The deck is a Zombie tribal build that turns The Scarab God's upkeep trigger into a growing life drain: each Zombie it controls costs every opponent one life and adds one to its scry each turn. Its activated ability exiles creature cards from any graveyard and makes 4/4 black Zombie token copies of them. That makes self-mill, removal and opponents' discards into a supply of reanimated value creatures, each of which also counts toward the drain. The commander comes back to hand at the next end step when it dies, so the engine is hard to remove for good, and the deck invests in filling graveyards and spending mana every turn on the ability. How it wins: It goes wide with Zombies and copied 4/4 Zombie tokens, then drains opponents out each upkeep with the commander's trigger while combat damage and lord-pumped attacks finish off what's left. Key roles: - Zombie density: Cheap Zombie creatures and Zombie token makers raise the count for the commander's upkeep drain and scry, and give tribal payoffs a wide board to work with (The Scarab God). - Graveyard filling: Self-mill, looting and discard effects stock graveyards with creature cards, giving the commander's ability plenty of targets. The scry from its upkeep trigger then helps set up future draws (The Scarab God). - Copy targets: Creatures with strong enter-the-battlefield, attack or static abilities become even better as 4/4 Zombie token copies, so killing or milling them pays off twice. - Tribal payoffs: Zombie lords, anthems and cards that reward Zombies entering or dying turn a wide board of Zombies and tokens into a lethal attacking force. - Mana for activations: Ramp and mana rocks let the deck activate the commander's four-mana ability several times a turn and recast the commander after it returns to hand. - Sacrifice and removal: Removal and sacrifice outlets kill opponents' best creatures, and sometimes the deck's own, so those creatures land in graveyards where the commander can steal them as Zombie copies.

The Scarab God decklist

• Gravecrawler
• Hungry Ghoul
• Cemetery Reaper
• Diregraf Captain
• Diregraf Horde
• Lord of the Accursed
• Liliana's Devotee
• Gisa and Geralf
• Havengul Lich
• Drunau Corpse Trawler
• Stitched Mangler
• Stitchwing Skaab
• Scourge of Nel Toth
• Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• Spark Reaper
• Vengeful Dead
• Fleshbag Marauder
• Graveshifter
• Corpse Harvester
• Lazotep Reaver
• Withered Wretch
• Tattered Mummy
• Unbreathing Horde
• Soul-Shackled Zombie
• Vizier of the Scorpion
• Moonglove Extractor
• Rooftop Storm
• Army of the Damned
• Gisa's Bidding
• Curse of Disturbance
• Zombie Apocalypse
• Enter the God-Eternals
• Syphon Flesh
• Liliana, Untouched by Death
• Grimoire of the Dead
• Animate Dead
• Victimize
• Diabolic Tutor
• Thirst for Identity
• Murder
• Terror
• Last Gasp
• Tragic Slip
• Dead Weight
• Feed the Swarm
• Baleful Mastery
• Bitter Triumph
• Imprisoned in the Moon
• Counterspell
• Refute
• Dark Ritual
• Springleaf Drum
• Sol Ring
• Arcane Signet
• Dimir Signet
• Talisman of Dominance
• Fellwar Stone
• Mind Stone
• Command Tower
• Choked Estuary
• Sunken Hollow
• Dismal Backwater
• Temple of Deceit
• Submerged Boneyard
• Jwar Isle Refuge
• Salt Marsh
• Thriving Isle
• Fabled Passage
• Evolving Wilds
• Terramorphic Expanse
• Secluded Courtyard
• Path of Ancestry
• Valgavoth's Lair
• Bojuka Bog
• War Room
• 10× Swamp
• 6× Island
• Gleaming Overseer
• Liliana's Mastery
• Loyal Subordinate
• Overlord of the Floodpits
• Twilight Diviner
• Cruel Truths
• Eternal Skylord
• Commander's Sphere